TRUE Private Wealth Advisors Purchases 1,560 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

TRUE Private Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,570 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares during the period. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Kroger were worth $529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 370.1% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the period. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 430.8% during the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of KR opened at $55.26 on Thursday. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company’s fifty day moving average is $52.84 and its 200 day moving average is $47.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on KR shares. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Guggenheim raised their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.17.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. The company operates combination food and drug stores, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouses. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; and multi-department stores provide apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, and toys.